CLYDEBANK’S MSP has welcomed the Scottish Government’s decision to ban fracking.

The Scottish Government previously announced a moratorium while it ran a public consultation and examined evidence over health and public safety.

The consultation was the second largest ever run by the Scottish Government, receiving 60,535 valid responses – of which 99 per cent were opposed to fracking.

Gil Paterson said: “People all across Scotland had deep concerns about the development of fracking, which is why the Scottish Government put in place a moratorium while the evidence was carefully examined.

“The Scottish Government undertook one of the most far reaching investigations into unconventional oil and gas of any government in the world.

“When the results were analysed they showed that 99 per cent of respondents were against fracking. It was also apparent that we could not be confident that fracking would pose no risk to public health and would not undermine our climate change targets.

“While I am unaware of any licensing applications pending in this constituency, Westminster has granted licenses in the adjacent constituency so I am delighted that the people of Clydebank, Old Kilpatrick, and neighbouring areas can now rest easy knowing that the threat of fracking has been removed.

“I’m delighted that the Scottish Government are putting the interests of communities first and hope that the Westminster Government will take heed and listen to the objections of people all over these islands.”